The head of the Wall & Colonization Resistance Commission, Minister Muayyad Shaaban, urged Palestinians to exercise heightened caution in light of a new surge in attacks by illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizers, warning that the current regional tensions, intensified media polarization, and international preoccupation with recent military developments and the war involving Iran are creating a dangerous environment for further escalation.
Shaaban said in a statement issued Saturday that the Israeli government, and particularly the armed colonizer militias operating under its protection, may exploit this political and media climate to carry out systematic acts of violence against Palestinian civilians in villages, towns, and Bedouin communities across the occupied West Bank.
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He stressed that past experience shows that periods of regional escalation are often used to advance aggressive field policies away from public scrutiny, whether through intensified attacks on population centers, widespread property destruction, or attempts to impose new facts on the ground by targeting agricultural and grazing lands and pressuring residents to leave through intimidation and force.
He noted a marked increase in the movement of armed colonizer groups around several villages and Bedouin areas, accompanied by deliberate inaction from the Israeli military, which continues to provide protection and cover for these attacks.
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This pattern, he said, reflects an organized strategy of violence aimed at undermining Palestinian presence in Area C and coercing residents into abandoning their lands.
Shaaban called on Palestinians—especially those living in vulnerable rural and Bedouin communities—to raise their level of vigilance, strengthen internal community coordination, and report any suspicious activity or attacks through official channels.
He emphasized the importance of precise documentation of all violations, including photographs, dates, and eyewitness testimonies, to support comprehensive legal files for pursuing perpetrators before relevant judicial bodies.
He appealed to national institutions, popular protection committees, village councils, and civil society organizations to increase their presence in targeted areas and organize support initiatives for Bedouin communities facing heightened risks of violence or forced displacement.
Shaaban held the Israeli government fully responsible for any escalation or attack against Palestinian civilians, noting that as the occupying power it is legally obligated to protect the population under its control—not to collude with armed colonizer militias and an unrestrained military apparatus.
He reaffirmed that attempts to exploit global distraction with regional developments to entrench colonial realities or carry out organized attacks against Palestinians will not alter the fundamental fact that the land is Palestinian, nor will they weaken the steadfastness of communities determined to remain on their land despite ongoing intimidation.
The Commission said it continues to monitor developments on the ground and pursue all necessary legal and field measures to protect Palestinian civilians and safeguard their rights.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment and acts of terror against civilian populations.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory”.
Articles 53 and 147, prohibit the destruction of civilian property and classify pillage as a war crime.
